Tufting machine



1947- J. K. MOCUTCHEN 2,

TUFTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ivfh' K. 71a; Wen,

July 3, 1947. J. K. wuTHEN 2,423,606

' 'I'UFTING MACHINE I Filed Nov. 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 2' July 8,1947. I J. K. MQCUTCHE' 2,423,606'

'IUFTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 8,1947.

J.-K. MCCUTCHEN 2,423,606

TUFTING lmdnmia Fild Nov. 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented July 8,1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TUFTING MACHINE Joseph K. McGutchen,Ellijay, Ga. Application November 24, 1944, Serial No. 564,938

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a combined looping and tufting machine andmore especially to a machine having means for forming loops on theunderneath side of a fabric and extending said loops downwardly anddepositing them onto a looper bill where the loops are cut to formtufts.

It is an object of this invention to provide in a sewing machine, aneedle bar equipped with a plurality of needles for sewing a pluralityof rows of stitches in a fabric with looper members adapted to passbetween the needles and the yarn carried thereby after the needles havepenetrated the base fabric to engage the yarn and form loops and then toextend these loops downwardly to any desired length and then transferthese loops from the loopers onto a looper bill which has associatedtherewith a cutting knife so that some, but not all, of the loops on thelooper bill will be out upon each up and down movement of the needle toretain on the looper bill some of the loops in uncut condition toprevent the yarn from being pulled out of the fabric.

It'is another object of this invention to provide a sewing machinehaving a plurality of needles and a plurality of loopers, there beingone looper associated with each needle for engaging the yarn carried bythe needle after the needle has pierced the fabric and extending theyarn downwardly to form an elongated loop together with an oscillatinglooper bill associated with each needle and adapted to pass into theloop while held by the loopers and to receive the same and the lo-operswill then move out of the loops and be ready to engage another set ofloops being formed by the downwardly descending needles, while at thesame time, the looper bills which have knives associated therewith willout some, but not all of the loops held on the looper bills to thus formelongated tufts Which is especially adaptable for making what is knownas shag type of chenille bedspreads, rugs, and the like.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of myimproved sewing machine, showing certain parts broken away for sake ofclearness and showing the presser foot in raised position;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along a line 2-2 in Figure1 and showing the inter-connecting means between the shaft carrying thelooper bills and the shaft carrying the knives for cutting the loopscarried by the looper bills;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 4-4 inFigure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in Figure4;

Figure '6 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 65 inFigure 4 and omitting the knife;

Figure '7 is a View taken along the same line as Figure 4, but showingthe parts in a different position;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 88 in Figure'7.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral It indicatesthe uprising portion of a conventional sewing machine which has aconventional bed .plate I I and a goose-neck I2 which is an extension ofthe upriser I0 and on the free end of the goose-neck I2 there is a headportion I3 which houses a vertically reciprocating needle bar I4 and apresser bar I5. The needle bar [4 has a transversely disposed bar I6secured on the lower end thereof in which a plurality of needles I! aredisposed, said needles having an eye I8 in the lower end thereof throughwhich a strand of yarn 23 passes.

The needle bar I4 is reciprocated vertically in a conventional mannerand the pressure bar [5 is of conventional design and has a conventionalpressure foot member 20 secured on its lower end to which presser foot2| is pivotally secured as at 22.

There is one strand of yarn for each needle which strands are omitted inFigure 1 for sake of clearness. These strands pass through conventionaltension mechanisms 25 secured on a plate '26, which, in turn, is securedto the head I3 of the sewing machine. The head I3 of the sewing machinealso has a bar 21 secured thereon having a plurality of holestherethrough, through which the yarn passes after passing through thetension means 25 on its way to the needle eye I8 of the needles H.

The sewing machine has a drive shaft 30 mounted in a conventional mannerand having a hand wheel 3i thereon, and also a pulley 32 which isadapted to receive a suitable belt, not shown, which is connected to asuitable prime mover, such as an electric motor, not shown, for drivingthe machine.

The shaft 30 has an eccentric portion 33 secured thereon on which theforked upper end of a connecting rod 34 has sliding movement and thiseccentric 33 gives a swinging movement to tothe fact that to rod 34there is pivotally conconnecting rod 46, whose lower end is connected tothe free end of an arm 4'! fixed on front feed dog rod 48. The frontfeed dog rod 48 is mounted for oscillation at its ends on pivot screws.49 and 5B and has adjustably secured thereon arm 52 and 53 whichproject upwardly and rearwardly' and have pins 51 therein which areadapted to have sliding movement in slotted portions 55 on the front endof a feed dog member 55. The rear end of the feed dog member 55 ispivotally secured as at 54 in arms 58 projecting upwardly from the rearfeed dog rod 4|. This feed dog member 55 has upwardly projectingportions 60 which are notched in their upper surfaces and are adapted toextend through suitable slots in a throat plate 6| fixed on top of thebed plate l0, and a suitable fabric 62 is adapted to pass between thepresser foot 2| and the throat plate 6| for penetration by the needleswhen the presser foot 2| is in lowered position, however, the presserfoot for sake of clearness is shown in raised position in all figures ofthe drawings.

Pivotally mounted on pivot screws 65 and 65 is a looper shaft '61 whichhas an arm 68 extendlink 91 whoseother end is pivoted as at 92 to alever 93 adjustably mounted on a cutter shaft 94 mounted at its ends foroscillation on pivot screws 95 and 95. This cutter shaft 94 has mountedtherein a plurality of rods 91, each of which has a slot 98 therein forreceiving the lower end of a cutter knife 99 and surrounding the rods 99are sleeves 55 which are adapted to be pressed against the edge of eachcutter member 99 to confine it to an adjusted position by means of ascrew lei being threadably mounted in the free end of the rods 99. It isto be observed that the upper end of the cutter member '99 is sharpenedand is flexed to have a rubbing engagement with the shank 81 and aportion 01' the'looper bill 88 to cut the rearmost loops on the looperbill 88, but to fail to cut the foremost ing therefrom to which thelower end of a con- '52 of the looper H is shown entering between thneedle and the strand carried thereby, whereas in Figure 4 the needlehas moved downwardly to a position to where the looper bills, to bepresently described, can pass into the'loop so that the looper H canmove upwardly and backwardly to its original position out of the loop.

Also fixed on shaft 36 is a suitable eccentric 15 which is surrounded bythe upper end of a connectin rod 15 which has its lower end piv-,

otally connected as at 1! to a lever 18 adjustably secured on looperbill shaft 80 Which is mounted at its ends for oscillation on pivotscrews BI and 82. This looper bill has adjustably mounted-thereon aplurality of members 83, these members being split and held in clampingrelation on the shaft 85 by means of screws 84. Also adjustably mountedin members 83 is a rod 85 by means of a set screw 86 which extendsupwardly and, as will be observed in Figure 8, has welded or otherwisesecured to its upper end, a

looper bill shank 8'1 which has a forwardly projecting looper bill 88which hasa downturned end for engaging and holding the loops transferredthereon by the looper members II. 'The looper bill shaft 80 has fixedlysecured thereto an arm Qi'iwhich has pivoted at its free end a loops onthe looper bill at all times.

' Method of operation The operation of the machine is as follows:

As the needles approach lowermost position the looper hooks 12 startmoving downwardly and rearwardly in between the needles and the strandcarried thereby, and the looper bills 33 are moving rearwardly and theknives 99 ar moving upwardly to cut the loops on the looper bills 83. Bythe time the needles have reached uppermost position the loopers H willhave reached lowermost position slightly below the path of the looperbills 88, and the looper bills 88, as the needles reach uppermostposition, start moving forwardly above the hooks 12 of the loopers toengage the loops as shown in Figure 4 and the looper bills 88 continuemoving forwardly while 0 the loopers 72 start moving upwardly as theneedles start descending. The looper bill 88 continue their rearwardmovement until the needles have reached lowermost position and continuesuch rearward movement until the needles have reached uppermost positionand the looper bill '12 have reached lowermost position, at, which timethe looper bills 83 start moving forwardly a ain.

Especial emphasis is placed on the fact that all of the shafts 4|, 18,61, 8D and 94 are driven directly from the main drive shaft 39.,Inprevious machines of this type the feed shafts 4| and 48 have beendriven from the main shaft and the looper and cutter mechanism has beendriven either from the feed shafts or; complicated power take-offs fromtliemain shaft or a separate source of power hasbeen used to drive thelooper and cutter shafts. I eliminate all these complicated andLuisatisfactory driving means by having eccentrics on the main shaft andconnecting rods extending from the eccentrics to the looper and cuttershafts for operating the same positively and without any lost motion.

In the drawings and specification, there-has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are em.-ployed, theyare used in ageneric and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaims.

I claim: 7

1. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle forcarrying a strand through a base fabric, an oscillating looper adaptedto pass between'the needle and the strand carried thereby for forming aloop on the lower surface of the fabric as the needle moves upwardlythrough the fabric, an oscillating loo-per bill pointing in the oppositedirection from the looper andadapted to pass into the loop while it isheld on the looper while the looper is in lowered position and to holdthe same while the looper moves upwardly and out of the loop, andcutting means associated with the looper bill for cutting some but notall of the loops held on the looper bill upon each complete oscillationof the looper bill.

2. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle forcarrying a strand through a base fabric, an oscillating shaft mountedbelow the fabric and in front of the needle, and having a looper armmounted thereon for swinging downwardly and rearwardly between theneedle and the strand carried thereby while the needle is in loweredposition for forming and elongating a loop from the strand carried bythe needle, an oscillating looper bill disposed below and rearwandly ofthe looper for passing into the loop held by the looper while the looperis in lowermost position, and cutting means associated with the looperbill for cutting some but not all of the loops on the looper bill uponeach oscillation of the looper bill.

3. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle barcarrying a plurality of vertically disposed laterally spaced needles,each needle being adapted to carry the strand through a base fabric, anoscillatable shaft disposed below the fabric and in front of the needle,said shaft having a plurality of looper arms mounted thereon each havinga hook on their rear ends adapted to pass between the needle and thestrand carried thereby while the needle is in lowered position, saidlooper arm being adapted to move the loops downwardly to a furtherelongated position than the depth to which the needle eye descends belowthe fabric, a second oscillatable shaft disposed below and rearwardly ofthe first oscillatable shaft and having a plurality of looper membersmounted thereon, the looper members having a looper bill on their upperends pointing in the opposite direction to that of the looper arms andadapted to swing forwardly into the loops while they are held by thelooper arms in their lowermost position to engage the loops and hold thesame while the looper arms move upwardly and forwardly out of the loops,a third oscillatable shaft having a plurality of cutter knives mountedthereon, there being one cutter knife for each of the looper bills, andthe upper end of the cutter knives having sliding engagement with thelooper bills for cutting some but not all of the loops off of the looperbills upon rearward oscillation of the looper bills.

4. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle forpenetrating a base fabric and carrying a strand therethrough, anoscillating looper member disposed below the fabric and adapted to passbetween the needle and the strand carried thereby and engage the strandand form a loop as the looper member moves downwardly and as the needlemoves upwardly through the fabric, said oscillating looper being adaptedto move downwardly below the lowermost point to which the needledescends to further elongate the loop, an oscillating looper billadapted to pass into the loop while it is held by the looper member inits lower most position and to hold the loop while the looper membermoves upwardly out of the loop, and cutting means associated with thelooper member for cutting some but not all of the loops held on thelooper bill during each oscillation of the looper bill.

5. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle barcarrying a plurality of vertically disposed laterally spaced needles,each needle being adapted to carry the strand through a base fabric, anoscillatable shaft disposed below and in front of the needle, said shafthaving a plurality of looper arms mounted thereon having a hook on theirrear ends adapted to pass between the needle and the strand carriedthereby while the needle is in lowered position, said looper arm. beingadapted to move the loops downwardly to a further elongated positionthan the depth to which the needle eye descends below the fabric, asecond oscillatable shaft disposed below and rearwardly of the firstoscillatable shaft and having a plurality of looper members mountedthere on, each of the looper members having a forwardly directed looperbill on its upper end adapted to swing forwardly into the loops whilethey are held by the loo-pers in their lowermost position to engage theloops and hold the same while the looper members move upwardly andforwardly out of the loops, a third oscillatable shaft having a plurality of cutter knives mounted thereon, there being one cutter knifefor each of the bills, and the upper end of the cutter knives havingsliding engagement with the looper bills for cutting some but not all ofthe loops off of the looper bills upon rearward oscillation of thelooper bills, the first two oscillatable shafts each having an arm fixedthereon, a connecting rod having its lower end connected to an arm, amain drive shaft having a plurality of eccentrics thereon, the upper endof each connecting rod being mounted on one of said eccentrics forimparting oscillation to the first two named oscillatable shafts.

6. A sewing machine having a feed side and a discharge side and avertically reciprocating needle for carrying a strand, through a basefabric, an oscillatable shaft disposed below the fabric, and having alooper thereon extending towards the discharge side of the machine forpassing between the strand and the needle when the needle is in loweredposition for forming loops on the lower side of the fabric, a secondoscillatable shaft having a looper bill mounted thereon and extendingtowards the feed side of the machine, and adapted to pass into the loopheld by the looper while the looper is in lowered position to engage andhold the loop while the looper moves upwardly out of the loop, a thirdoscillatable shaft mounted below the fabric and having a cutter membermounted thereon which is adapted to cut some but not all of the loops onthe looper bill as the looper bill oscillates toward the discharge sideof the machine, away from the looper from which it received its loop.

JOSEPH K. McCUTCHEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 1,902,704 Kadlec Mar. 21, 19332,352,153 Patey June 20, 1944 438,427 Riehfuss et al. Oct. 14, 18901,922,131 Heidel Aug. 15, 1933 2,280,212 Boyles Apr. 21, 1942 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 12,811 Great Britain 1898

